Online Community to Improve Marketing Strategies for Mental Health TherapistsThe realization of how important it is to have an online presence prompted a Los Angeles therapist to start an online community to share her ideas and knowledge with fellow professionals in related fi

News-Antique.com - Aug 27,2008 - The realization of how important it is to have an online presence prompted a Los Angeles therapist to start an online community to share her ideas and knowledge with fellow professionals in related fields who are looking for better and effective marketing strategies.

Julie Cohen started LinksforShrinks to help therapists and related professions in the healing arts including: acupuncture, meditation, and yoga along with psychiatrists, substance abuse counselors and doctors who want to create an online presence for their business.

Search engines have replaced the relevancy of Yellow Pages and people are more inclined to find their healthcare professionals including therapists through search engines.

Referrals for healthcare are changing. An increasing number of therapists are creating websites and soon they will be as important as their voice mail and business cards. LinksforShrinks serves as a bridge to help bring psychotherapists into the online world.

However, an online presence will get you nowhere if your website suffers from a dearth of attention. You need to rank highly for the keywords that you are targeting for your site. Ms Cohen understood the importance of backlinks for Search Engine Optimization purposes and decided to start a forum as a platform for social networking.

“It is my wish to have members network with each other and create high quality link exchanges. This is an opportunity to network with colleagues and build additional referrals sources,” Julie Cohen explained in detail.

Backlinks from relevant sites are known to be a great source of targeted traffic because patients who suffer with stress and visited an acupuncture practitioner’s website might be interested in consulting a psychotherapist or meditation instructor too.

The forum is also an ideal place for private practice practitioners to brainstorm about effective marketing strategies for their business. All these features are available for free.

About the founder: Julie Cohen is a Los Angeles based Marriage and Family Therapist who works with individuals dealing with PTSD, Anxiety, Panic, Life Transitions and Gay & Lesbian issues. Ms. Cohen has more than 17 years of clinical experience working in the mental health field. Visit her site on http://www.juliecohenmft.com/

About Links for Shrinks: Link for Shrinks is a DIY Website & Link Exchange Hub for Mental Health Professionals and Complimentary Professions.